Is it science or art?

 I saw so many beautiful things today I could hardly stand it.  For now I'll let these photos speak for themselves.  It's late, and I'm still reflecting on a wonderful morning nature walk with some bright college students who still have a sense of wonder.  Our conversation ranged far and wide with our discoveries of natural phenomena launching our minds on sinuous journeys.  It was fitting that my day ended with an art opening, complete with wine and horz doovers and encountering a friend/colleague I hadn't seen for over 30 years.  I learned a new Spanish word from him: querencia.  The word captures the way I feel when I'm crouched by a Showy Milkweed watching the Red Milkweed Beetles play.  It means something grander than simply feeling at home in a place.  Unfortunately, it's also the name of a luxury golf course, a hotel, and who knows what else.  I'll add a little natural history to this piece tomorrow and perhaps disucss the question in my title.

Sunday: I've got around 5 "milkweed places" I visit regularly and it's interesting that two of them that each have only a few plants seem to have all the Milkweed Beetles.  The area with the most Showy Milkweed plants is about a half mile Northwest of Oakland Camp, and I never see the beetle there.  Also, in that area, the Monarch Butterfly is much more common on the Narrow-leaf Milkweed, even though the popular notion is that it preferes the Showy.  Admittedly, I'm looking at a very small sample on all of these issues.

If I were going to be a specialist, I could imagine choosing the Red Milkweed Beetle as my subject.  I'm curious about their means of communication, especially in relation to courtship.  My minimal observations indicate that their antennae are truly multipurpose organs.  They seem to be involved in balance, fighting, and courtship.

After visiting the Milkweeds on Chandler Road, I made a couple of other stops on the way into camp.  In one shady area I got a few photos of this fungus (above) that looks like a blog of tar on the branches of young Choke Cherry and Black Oak trees.

In most places the Crimson Columbine is beginning to go to seed, so I've been on the lookout for the most photogenic blossoms remaining.  On some rainy day I need to purge my archives.  I must have several hundred photos each of the Red Milkweed Beetle and the Crimson Columbine.

My photos of the Leopard Lily are starting to add up, too.  I especially like them in shady areas with back lighting.  They're still going strong in the Berry Creek and Gilson Creek areas.

t's been another good year for bugs on Yarrow.  Many different kinds like to land on Yarrow, and I've found many different kinds mating and/or eating. 

Salvia?  I found a few of these growing where Tollgate Creek crosses the trail a half mile above the railroad track.  Definitely in the mint family, but I haven't looked for the species yet.  Smells very nice. No bugs on it.